Month: October 2011

Got lost in the hymnal again

Looked up Edward Everett Hale (NOT HORTON- thanks mOm), once chaplain to the US Senate and a noted theologian, writer and speaker (Unitarian, ‘fcourse).

Throughout his lifetime Edward Hale made a number of statements that reveal his wise and stately character and now serve to mark his distinguished literary career.  Here are some quotes, lifted from Wikipedia

  • ‘Do you pray for the senators, Dr. Hale?’ No, I look at the senators and I pray for the country.
  • I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do. <—- this is not the quote in the hymnal, interestingly enough.
  • If you have accomplished all that you have planned for yourself, you have not planned enough.
  • In the name of Hippocrates, doctors have invented the most exquisite form of torture ever known to man: survival.
  • Make it your habit not to be critical about small things.
  • Never bear more than one kind of trouble at a time. Some people bear three kinds of trouble – the ones they’ve had, the ones they have, and the ones they expect to have.
  • The making of friends who are real friends, is the best token we have of a man’s success in life.
  • To look forward and not back, To look out and not in, and To lend a hand.
  • War – hard apprenticeship of freedom.
  • Wise anger is like fire from a flint: there is great ado to get it out; and when it does come, it is out again immediately

VCon roundup

VCon vignettes: Getting asked by a new to filk fan if we “Had any Star Trek songs?” causing Creede and Shaddyr and I to look at each other wildly and flip the book open to Banned From Argo. Great concert by Creede and Shaddyr and I ran through our OVFF song list which was also well received. Songwriting panel I was on was attended by two very shy teenaged girls. Larry Niven was EVERYWHERE; saw him in the hall, the filkroom, the art show, the dealer’s room. The very model of an affable and approachable GOH. Dropped ludicrous amounts of money on clothing, including a sick confection of a steampunk hat, two corsets, skirt, buffalo belted purse, froofy blouse and bi-coloured leather wrist band with steampunk details and an alien glass eye on the top. Outfit is supposed to cross filk, steampunk and Browncoat fandoms. Shout out to foxipher – can’t wait for Conflikt ! Shout out to Casey Wolf. Saw the Best Assassin’s Creed costume EVAR; anytime the wearer passed somebody in period costume he’d go into the ‘blend’ posture which caused me to howl with laughter. There were half a dozen excellent Dr. Whos, the best Stormtrooper costume I’ve been up close to, and there was one poor chica who was the living model for Venus and Mars and had to change her costume every two hours as a walking billboard. Which she very much resembled as she was wearing the tallest platforms imaginable outside a KISS concert. Ran into various former coworkers and friends and friends of friends and had some lovely conversations and some long overdue catching up. Also, given that VCon is a smallish Gencon with about 1000 members, the art room was nothing short of spectacular. There were at least 10 items I wanted to buy and even the stuff I didn’t like was well done. And my costume was so cool (I changed into it as I was buying it, to the amusement of the dealers) I had requests for pictures. No VCon for me today as I am opening church and have life maintenance. But even so I call it an unqualified success.